Popular Bollywood Movies That Were Stereotypical In Their Representations of South Indians Part 2

When it comes to the representation of South Indians, Bollywood has left no stone unturned to go the extra mile to demarcate them from the ‘regular’ folk.

The crude classification of Madrasis, which groups people from all the southern states without taking the pains of distinguishing between their diverse cultures, has found its way into Bollywood time and again. In our previous post we had covered few but bollywood had many more to add to the list. 

Salaam Namaste(2005)

A story about the lives of young Indians living and chasing their dreams in Australia is expected to serve as an ideal premise to do away with stereotypes that plague movies set in India. Sadly, the only South Indian character in Saalam Namaste, Deepan Nair, played by Kunal Vijayakar, is far from unconventional.  The portrayal is as bemusing as it is crass. He addresses his employee Amabar, played by Preity Zinta, as  “Hamabar” with the characteristic stagy accent, but at the same time wears flamboyant suits that is minor departure from the Dhoti.  He serves no purpose other than being the greedy boss who aims to exploit the personal conflict between Ambar and Nick, played by Saif Ali Khan, and reinforces the existing stereotype of the unimportant South Indian comic relief.

Ra.One (2011)

What if Mehmood’s character from Padosan was rebranded to suit modern day culturally indecorous needs?  One gets a Tamil Brahmin scientist named Shekhar Subhramaniam played by Shahrukh Khan. While the screen time of Khan’s character is limited compared to the titular character he plays in the movie, it is sufficient to induce unapproving frowns. Subhramaniam converses with the characteristic hammy accent along with the generous use of good old ‘Aiyo’s. Venturing into culinary spaces beyond the stereotypical Idli-Vada, Subhramaniam is shown licking his fingers while feasting on curd pasta (supplementing rice).  Fortunately, the ordeal ends when demise of Subhramaniam’s makes way for the protagonist, G.One.

Chennai Express (2013)

Another Shahrukh Khan starrer on the list. However, Khan who plays the character of Rahul, yet gain, is innocent of perpetuating cemented South Indian histrionics on the big-screen. The honour is Deepika Padukone’s, who plays Meenalochni Azhagusundaram, aka Meena, a damsel trying to escape the clutches of her father who is a Don down South. Meena, clad in Kanchivaram sarees with Kajra’s adorning her long plait, mouths one vacuous dialogue after another in the most atrocious South Indian accent in Bollywood Cinema to this date. The famous dialogue, “Kahan Se Khareedi Aisi Bhakwas (pronounced as Bh-owk-was here) dictionary”, is undoubtedly the winner. If that did not suffice, this movie helped introduce to Bollywood a new South Indian stereotype– A dumb-witted brawny oaf. Meena is surrounded by this new breed of on-screen Madrasi n the form of her father, his henchmen, and a giant of a finacee, who contribute to one cringe worthy scene after another. Finally, the track Lungi Dance single handedly manages to deliver a hamfest that any self-respecting Tamilian would be offended by.

2 States(2014)

The advantage, or disadvantage, of adapting a popular novel for the screen is the creative freedom that it offers the makers. However, when the leeway offered by the change in medium is used to augment existing onscreen typecasts, it does disservice to the original text. Based on the best-seller of the same name by Chetan Bhagat, 2 States is an exercise in duplication and celebration of established cultural misconceptions. Here, the other Madrasi is given prominence—traditional, serious, uncomedic, studious and career oriented. The South-North divide that the romance between the characters of Ananya Swaminathan (played by Alia Bhat) and Krish Malhotra (played by Arjun Kapoor) leads to between the families provides the much needed fodder to magnify the cultural difference hurdle within marriages that has now acquired a negligible role in the acceptance of alliances within the educated urban landscape. Despite stellar performances by majority of the cast, the stress on the perceived otherness of each other, here between Punjabis and Tamil Brahmins, dampens the intention of the original source material.

Jeevan Biswas

An ardent fan of Marlon Brando and Rajnikanth, Jeevan aspires to make a difference with his reportage some day.